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Bluesound Node 2

I'm a complete newbie in the digital space, not counting CD players of course. I'm also on a path to upgrade my system from other various angles, mostly preamp and speakers. All that said, I'm currently using a Bluesound Node 2 with a hifi Tidal subscription. No computer files or hardwired USB connections. My first question is where does Bluesound fit in the digital wireless streaming quality hierarchy. And a related question is what would be a good upgrade path, again assuming only wireless streaming as the source. I see a lot of high end DACs out there, some several thousand dollars and wonder if those are only used for connection to a laptop and running computer hirez files, etc. Not a whole lot about wireless streaming. All in all, some guidance in the digital wireless streaming space would be appreciated. Thanks.
128x128kalali
mahler123
3,083 posts
 
@mofimadness 
Looking back I see that your question was about Tidal on Blusound. My answer pertained more to Blusound itself.
  I did try the free trial of Tidal and for me, it was simply awful, but I listen to Classical, and Tidal doesn't seem to care about Classical
kalali's avatar
kalali OP
1,977 posts
 
mahler123 - Out of curiosity, when you say awful do you mean sound quality of the user interface? I do occasionally listen to western classical selections in Tidal and in most cases I find the SQ worse than a standard CD. The jazz selections, especially the newer recordings sound much much better. That is also true for other genres and I attributed the disparity to original recordings quality. I'm now wondering if they stream certain selections or even genres at lower resolution rates than others. I wish there was a way to know at what rate the content is being streamed. Maybe there is...
mahler123
3,083 posts
 
Yes, I meant the interface .  Another poster here described the Classical Interface on Tidal as appearing to have been designed by a Chimpanzee ; that is probably an insult to chimpanzees. Fwiw I didn't think the sonics on Tidal were anything special.  A great streaming site for Classical is ClassicsOnline.
jond's avatar
jond
5,687 posts
 
I would agree the search function for Tidal leaves something to be desired but not really an issue for me as I don't really listen to classical. Much easier searching non-classical music on Tidal.
kalali's avatar
kalali OP
1,977 posts
 
As an experiment, I hooked up my Node 2 directly to my amp which is as older McIntosh MC2200 with separate channel gain controls. It sounds great, actually sounds a little more open when compared going through the preamp. Node 2 is literally a preamp itself allowing a subwoofer connection. Using the mobile app, you can control bass, treble, etc. Anyway, you guys with a Node 2 should try a direct connection and may just be pleasantly surprised.
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